Prolotherapy was developed in the 1930's -1940's by Dr. George Hackett a general surgeon in Ohio. A definition is: injection of a substnace to stimulate new growth in tissues. For prolotherapy, we are talking about treatment of tendons, ligaments, cartilage. the last 10 years has seen a number of good studies on the use of prolotherapy (e.g. the work of Dr. Reeves and Dr. Alfredson).
My own introduction was in 1978, aand I have used it for my patients very frequently, especially in the last 20 years. The usual solution consists of dextrose (the same sugar as in our blood), some local anesthetic, and sterile water to dilute thiese to the corret concentration. Becasue stimulation of new growth in these structures is slow to procduce new fibers, any good result from prolotherapy will typically take 6 weeks. Often a person needs repeat injections, which can be once or more, depending on the extent of injury.

The average success rate is about 80%. this is much more in some areas, in my experience, such as tennis elbow, and for chronic headaches, and less when large areas need treatment.

i am a real fan of prolotherapy both professionally and persoanlly. I have been injected ( I wouldn't injedt myself) for tennis elbow, a knee tendon strain, and last week at a knee ligament, and a repeat for left sided tennis elbow last injected about 8-10 years ago and now recurring with mild pain only in the last 2 months.

I have to emphasize tht prolotherapy is just one tool for chronic pain. One needs a careful exam to find the specific problem(s), and often other therapies as well.
My website: www. irwinabraham.com has an area of deltailed information you are welcome to download for free, and you may want to look at the largest prolotherapy webs site: getprolo.com.

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss prolotherapy.